Conventional thrust reversers for aircraft gas turbine engines are provided for deflecting the by-pass airflow or exhaust gases or the combination of both in a generally forward direction upon landing of the aircraft for assisting in braking the aircraft. The thrust reversing arrangement is typically designed to translate from a stowed position, wherein it is aerodynamically blended with a conventional nacelle surrounding the engine, to a deployed position wherein the gas or airflow is turned forwardly as it is blocked and turned by the deployed reversing arrangement. Early thrust reversers were applied to the exhaust gas nozzles and became known as the core thrust reversers. Later with the advent of the turbofan engine, thrust reversers were applied to the bypass duct of the engine and became known as the fan thrust reversers. Such thrust reversers have been in the form of blocking doors which are circumferentially distributed and capable of being selectively pivoted so as to block-off the rearward flow of the by-pass air and turn it outward by the use of the so called cascades which are louvered structures mounted in the cowl upstream of the blocker doors. Of course, simultaneously with the actuation of the blocker doors the outer cowl surface must also be opened so that the reversed airflow could pass to the outside through the cascades.
Such reversing arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,541,794 issued Nov. 24, 1970 to Everett A. Johnston, David F. Howard, Hans Bollenbacher and Henry H. Carl and assigned to the assignee of the present application, and is incorporated herein by reference. Such referenced patent, however, discloses a short duct separate flow turbofan engine and its thrust reversing arrangement, which due to its shorter cowling structure requires only the opening of a single cowling structure, which is the combination of an inner and outer bondment into a single translating cowling member.
Another reversing arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,278,220 issued Jul. 14, 1981 to Everett A. Johnston and Edward W. Ryan and assigned to the United States of America represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington D.C., and is incorporated herein by reference. Such referenced patent discloses a long duct turbofan engine with an improved thrust reverser having a blocker door with an overhead linkage disposed in the outer nacelle structure. It is, however, provided with a single translating cowl member, and the outer wall of the fan duct is formed solely by the blocker door in stowed position and, as its continuity, by the rear fixed structure.
The problems are, however, different in some long duct mixed flow (LDMF) propulsion system, wherein a relatively long fixed rear structure is present, which prevents the above-noted combination of the inner and outer bondments into a single translating member.
The teachings of these patents are specifically intended to be incorporated herein by reference for enabling one skilled in the art to understand the present invention without the disclosure of extraneous material.